Russia warns US after downing of Syrian plane

MOSCOW: Warplanes from the US-led coalition operating over Syrian airspace west of the Euphrates River will be treated as potential targets, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday, a day after the US military shot down a Syrian air force jet.

Russia, Syria’s main ally, also said it is suspending a cooperative pact with the US aimed at maintaining airspace safety in Syria, BBC reported. The latest spat came a day after an American F18E Super Hornet fighter jet downed on Sunday a Syrian SU-22 which was targeting areas held by a US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab coalition militia fighting the Islamic State in the city of Raqqa.

“Any aircraft, including planes and drones belonging to the international coalition operating west of the Euphrates river, will be tracked by Russian anti-aircraft forces in the sky and on the ground and treated as targets,” the ministry said. –